True Crime: Streets of LA E3 Preshow Report

Activision will have True Crime: Streets of LA on hand at this year's E3. The third-person action game promises an adventure that is packed with cinematic moments and set in an exacting re-creation of the greater Los Angeles area. The game places you in the role of Nick Kang, a former LAPD officer dismissed for being a little too aggressive in enforcing the law. But now he's back in action after being enlisted by the force's Elite Operations Division to bring down a Chinese Triad and a Russian Mafia cartel that has been wreaking havoc in the city.

This quest for a special LA brand of justice will unfold over the course of 100 different missions that take place all over the city. Nick will prowl the city streets in a custom high-performance police car, and there are plenty of random crimes to deal with along the way, which not only adds to the depth of realism but also provides a good opportunity to earn points that can be spent on certain upgrades. Whether in the middle of one of the branching story-based missions or engaging an unfortunate street criminal, Nick can show off his martial-arts skills in hand-to-hand combat or pull out twin .45-caliber pistols to deal with opponents. There are a variety of mission types besides conventional third-person action sequences, though, including stealth elements or car-based missions where you'll have to tail a suspect or disable a suspect's car.

True Crime's developer, Luxoflux, has put a lot of effort into re-creating the city of LA with as much realism as possible. Using GPS data and satellite photos, some 300 square miles of Los Angeles have been digitally reproduced for the game, including more than 100 landmarks. The streets of LA are more than appropriate as a setting for the police thriller story and add an extra edge of realism to the action. True Crime is scheduled for release later this year on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube.